“You sure about this?” he asks quietly.
I shake my head, because nope, I’m still not sure about any of it, but I don’t stop myself. I lay down and he’s on top of me. I tug at his costume as he strips me of my clothes. My head is swimming and my heart is racing, and before I can catch my breath, his lips are on mine again and he’s pushing inside, already settled between my thighs. I gasp as he lets out a guttural groan, filling me, holding me.
None of it feels real.
Not this time. Not last time.
He moves slow at first, and it’s almost agonizing, before he increases his pace, thrusting harder, deeper, shoving my knees up and hitting that spot deep inside of me that makes my toes curl and my body quiver. I moan his name. “Jonathan.”
“Like that?” he asks, keeping his rhythm. “Is that how you want it?”
I nod, whimpering as he hits that spot again and again, unraveling the tight knots inside of me as I start to come apart at the seams. “Please.”
“You’re the queen,” he whispers, not stopping as orgasm rocks me. I arch my back, gripping him tightly, nails raking along his shoulders.
Even when it subsides, he doesn’t stop. He doesn’t slow down. He knows what I want and he gives it to me, over and over, until I’m begging, pleading, and can’t take another moment. Only then does he pull back, only then does he change his pace—hitting hard, so hard that my breath catches, a few rough, deep strokes as he groans, coming.
“Fuck,” he curses, nuzzling into my neck. He kisses the skin, teeth nipping at my throat. “So beautiful.”
The beautifulest woman in the world.
That’s what he told Maddie.
That’s how he described me.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I hold onto him, hoping he means those words, hoping I can believe him.
“Mommy?”
That’s all it takes to draw me out of a deep sleep, that lone word spoken nearby, the quiet voice calling out to me. Maddie. My eyes open, and I blink a few times, getting my wits about me. The room is starting to lighten, the sun rising outside, a soft glow streaming through the window and shining along the wooden floor around the bed.
I think maybe I was hearing things, because she’s not in front of me, and I start to close my eyes again when I hear soft giggling. It strikes me then, pieces all coming together as panic floods my system. Clutching the blanket to my bare chest, I sit up abruptly and turn the other way, wide-eyed.
She’s standing there, right beside where her father is sleeping in the bed. In my bed. Crap, he’s asleep in my bed, not wearing a bit of clothing, the blanket draped over him. Thank goodness he’s covered up—not that it makes this whole thing any better. She’s much too young to know what any of this is, but she’s got one heck of an imagination, that kid, which could prove dangerous.
I don’t want her to get ideas in her head and think this is more than it is… whatever it is.
She pokes his cheek before sticking her finger in his ear, giggling again when he grumbles in his sleep and moves around, flailing his hand, trying to ward off the intrusion.
“Madison,” I hiss, warning her. She pulls her hand away and looks at me with that ‘oh shit’ expression, knowing she’s busted. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“Doesn’t look like nothing.”
A smile cracks her face.
She does it again, sticking her finger in his ear. His face contorts with annoyance as he shifts position, groaning, “I’m trying to fucking sleep, Ser.”
Maddie gasps, yanking her hand back, looking at him with shock. I feel it, that same sensation stirring in the pit of my gut, but for much different reasons. Ser. Serena. He thinks it’s her. “Daddy says bad words!”
The moment she says that, Jonathan’s eyes snap open. He sits up so fast he rips the blanket right off of me. Gasping, I grab it, scrambling to stay covered, yanking it back onto me and almost exposing him in the process. He looks at me, wide-eyed, panicked, whispering, “oh fuck.”
“See!” Maddie says, reaching over and poking him in the ear. “I heard it!”
He laughs and pushes her hand away as he turns to her. “Sorry, didn’t know there were little ears in the room.”
Grasping her earlobe, he playfully tugs on it.
“Maddie, sweetheart, why don’t you head to the kitchen?” I suggest. “I’ll be there in a second to make you some breakfast.”
She leaves the room, and I try to slip out of bed, but well, I can feel Jonathan’s eyes, and my clothes are too far away to reach. He tries to touch me, his hand on my back, fingertips grazing my spine. I move away from him, taking the blanket with me, wrapping it around my naked body as I snatch up some clothes.
“Kennedy? What’s wrong?”
“Maddie’s waiting for breakfast,” I mumble, going straight for the bathroom. I close the door behind me, letting out a long exhale as I pull on my clothes, grumbling to myself. “Stupid, stupid, stupid... could you be any more stupid? Sleeping with that stupid man after all the stupid crap he’s done... what is wrong with you?”
Yanking the door back open, I nearly slam into a body blocking the doorway, lingering in the hall. He had the sense to put on his pants and is still struggling to button them.
“Excuse me,” I mumble, averting my gaze, but he’s not moving out of my way.
He grasps my arm before I can go past him, his brow furrowed. “Did I do something?”
“I don’t know,” I mumble. “Did you?”
I try to move away from him, but he steps further into my path. “Come on, don’t be that way. Tell me what’s wrong.”
I hesitate. I want to make some snide comment and storm away, throw a tantrum like a petulant child because I feel so stupid, but that’s not me. It’s never been me. So whatever, it is what it is, so I say it, no matter how stupid it sounds. “You called her Ser.”
“What?”
“She woke you up, and you thought she was Serena.”
He lets go of my arm as his expression shifts to something that looks like pity, and I don’t like it.
I leave him there and head for the kitchen, sighing when I see a chair shoved over to the counter, Maddie standing on it, digging through the cabinets. “What do you think you’re doing, little girl?”
“Looking for the Lucky Charms,” she says as I pull her down and set her on her feet.
“I’m afraid we’re all out.” I grab a box of Cheerios. “How about these?”
She makes a face of disgust.
“Raisin Bran?”
Another face.
“How about some cottage cheese?”
She pretends to gag.
“Uh, well, how about—?”
“How about I take you out for breakfast?” Jonathan suggests, stepping into the kitchen. “Pancakes, sausage, eggs…”
“Bacon!” Maddie declares.
“I don’t know,” I say. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, you know, with the whole you being you thing.”
“Me being me,” he says.
“Yeah, chances are you’ll get recognized and then have to explain this whole thing and well, you know, I’m not sure it’s worth it for some breakfast.”
“But it might be bacon,” Maddie whines.
Jonathan hesitates, thinking it over, glancing between us before he says, “I know somewhere we can go.”
Mrs. McKleski’s place.
Landing Inn.
That’s where he takes us.
Maddie and I stand in the woman’s foyer in our pajamas, while Jonathan wears just the leather pants from the Knightmare costume. Mrs. McKleski looks at us like we’ve gone crazy, and I instantly want to be anywhere else in the world, but it’s too late, because Maddie’s been promised some bacon.
“You want breakfast,” Mrs. McKleski says. “That’s what you’re telling me?”
He nods. “Yes, ma'am.”
She stares at him. Hard. I expect a denial, because this whole idea is absurd, but after a moment, she lets out a resigned sigh.
“Fine, but go put on some clothes,” she says. “This is an inn, Mr. Cunningham, not Chippendales. I won’t have you at my breakfast table looking like a gigolo.”